BWW Recap: Aunt Astra Asks for SUPERGIRL'S Help

On this week's episode of SUPERGIRL, Astra makes Kara question everything she thinks she knows about her aunt, CatCo faces an email hacking scandal, and Cat Grant finds out Kara's true identity. Mostly importantly, the amazing Laura Benanti finally got a lot of screen time!

This episode opens right where last week's left off: with Kara and Astra fighting. Astra insists, "I need for you to be a hero, Kara. It's time for us to be a family again." She reveals that she has designed a suit to make her not vulnerable to Kryptonite.

Back at the office, Cat is facing an email hacking SCANDAL as the Daily Planet publishes the newly discovered facts about her. She encourages her lawyers to sue all the media outlets involved, but they're reluctant. She sets Kara to going through her emails to find anything possibly damaging ahead and time and admits that she may need help. But she cautions Kara to only allow people she trusts to help her, like James Olsen and "that handsome little hobbit that has more cardigans than you do." That might be my favorite Cat Grant line yet.

As Alex and Kara practice fighting, it's clear that Kara is pushing too hard. And yet, she hesitates to deliver any hard blows. Alex questions if she's really capable of harming Astra and suggests that it might be better if she stayed out of the fight. "I think, deep down whether you admit it or not, you still care about her," Alex tells her.

A flashback to Kara's childhood reveals how close she was to her Aunt Astra and that they even had special messaging devices to contact each other. Astra explained to Kara that she was in trouble with her mother because she was trying to save Krypton and not everyone agreed with her methods. In an incredibly touching performance by Laura Benanti, Astra told Kara that she couldn't love a daughter of her own more than she loves Kara.

Also, can we just talk about how gorgeous Laura Benanti is? I absolutely loved the scenes with Astra and Alura when she was basically acting with herself! #laurabenantiforallthecharacters

Cat meets with her Board of Directors, who aren't pleased with the hack. Furthermore, Dirk Armstrong, CatCo's Chairman of the Board, is acting sketchy. With her alien super-hearing, Kara overhears him admit that he's behind the email hacking, so she asks for Lucy Lane's help since she has experience in law. Lucy tells Kara, Winn, and James to be careful, but that they could get Dirk arrested if they can provide a paper trail proving that he's plotting to bring Cat down.

Their conversation is interrupted by a TV broadcast showing Astra waiting around in the air by CatCo. Kara rushes off to fight her, but finds that she can't bring herself to kill her aunt. Instead, she brings her to the DEO to be locked away.

Ever the tech genius, Winn has a plan for how to reveal Dirk. He has a device to put on Dirk's computer that will allow him to hack into it. He volunteers James to be the one to plant the device, while Kara keeps watch with her x-ray vision. In an incredibly tense scene (anyone else on the edge of their seat?), James successfully plants the bug...but doesn't make it out of the office before Dirk gets back. He covers by telling Dirk that he wanted to pledge his support in the possibility that Cat Grant is no longer head of CatCo in the future. Well done, James!

Back at the DEO, Astra insists that she'll only talk to Kara who seems more willing to talk about Astra reveals that she still has their messaging device. She tells her that she was willing to break rules in her quest to save Krypton because "it would all be worth it if you survived." She asks Kara if she was aware that Alura used her to catch Astra and put her in prison. She reveals that she was imprisoned the day of the flashback after Kara used her messaging device to ask Astra to visit.

She also tells Kara that she's trying to save the Earth from destruction and that she needs Kara's help to make the people trust her. As Kara storms out of the room, her aunt calls after her, "I love you." Honestly, I'm super torn over whether or not I believe Astra about what happened. But I do believe that she does truly love her niece...and there's nothing better than a complicated female villain!

Kara confronts the hologram of Alura, who admits that she did use Kara to catch Astra. Kara unleashes on her, screaming, "You left me alone." When Alex tries to calm her, she insists: "I know that Astra and I were both given life sentences by my mother." After watching Kara struggle with her feelings of abandonment all season thus far, it's interesting to see this shift in her feelings towards her mother.

James does find one thing in Cat's emails that seems questionable: monthly payments from Cat to a young man named Adam Foster in Opal City. When Kara asks Cat about it, she reveals that Adam is her eldest son. The pregnancy, which wasn't with her other son's father, was unplanned and Cat wasn't ready to sacrifice her career for a child. Her ex got custody of Adam and she never was truly a part of his life. She defends herself to Kara: "You have no idea what that moment is like when you say to yourself, 'Maybe my child would be better off without me.'" I can't wait for Adam to appear on the series in person...especially because he'll be played by Blake Jenner, Melissa Benoist's actual husband!

Rather than allow her relationship with Adam to come into the spotlight, Cat declares that she's going to resign. As she's heading to her press office, she tells Kara that she'll always have a job with her if she wants one. (Aww!) But Winn, James, and Lucy rush in the door with emails proving Dirk's guilt.

Cat once again proves herself to be the ultimate girl boss by confronting Dirk. When he protests that she essentially hacked him in return, she reminds him that his emails were sent from a CatCo account, which makes them her property. He's escorted out of the building. Another win for the Super Friends!

James apologizes to Winn for what he saw in last week's episode and explains that he didn't understand before how much Winn likes Kara. He urges him, "You were wrong before. I'm not in your way. If you have feelings for Kara, you should tell her." But Winn isn't so sure; in fact, I think it's Winn's ability to be vulnerable that makes him so endearing to me. Jeremy Jordan was so adorable in this scene as he insists, "You and your abs wouldn't even understand." But James counters, "She's the kind of girl worth RISKING IT ALL for."

As Alex rewatches Astra and Kara's fight, she realizes that something is off. Astra clearly wanted to lose; her fight with Kara was just a distraction for her actual plan. In fact, at that very moment, Astra's husband, Lieutenant Non, and their troops are invading Lord Technologies.

When Cat called Kara her "secret weapon," I knew something was up. Cat finally figured out that Kara is Supergirl...and frankly, it took long enough. I'm curious to see how this will change Cat's relationship with Kara. Hopefully, she'll be a bit more understanding now!

Hank, Alex, and the rest of the DEO agents show up to Lord Technologies to fight Astra's troops though the fight seems fairly even. The episode ends just as Kara shows up, ready to fight her uncle.

This week's episode was the winter finale, so we won't have another episode until January. What are you hoping to see? The answers to what really happened between Astra and Alura? Hank Henshaw's shapeshifting abilities? More of Winn's backstory? (Okay, maybe that's just me.) Tweet me at @nicoleackman16 and let me know. Otherwise, see you in January!

Photo Credit: CBS